In the entire history of the United States, there is certainly no statement that is more important or significant than this one:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all persons are created equal...
I have, as I trust you will note, "upgraded" this opening line from The Declaration of Independence, better to reflect the truth that the statement asserts. For the first time since 1776, it may be, this November, that the people of the United States will demonstrate that their commitment to equality includes all "persons," not just all "men." I'm hoping that's true - and we all, by the way, have a chance to help make it true.
This blog posting is not, in fact, mainly intended to highlight the need to make real our commitment to gender equality, by doing everything we can to elect Kamala Harris to the presidency. That would be a good thing, though!
As the image at the top of this blog posting is meant to demonstrate, our commitment to "equality" is belied by the reality of our human situation. To the extent that we act as though "equality" is intended to mean that we are all "the same," it is obvious that The Declaration of Independence is way off the mark. We are not all "the same." In fact, the opposite is true. We are all "different." Each one of us is "unique." That's what our fingerprints will tell us - in case that hasn't otherwise become obvious.
Were the patriots who led the revolution that established our new nation simply wrong, when they officially declared that all persons are "created equal"? Another possibility is that were they trying to tell us something that many of us have missed. l think the latter explanation makes the most sense. So, what does that statement about "equality" really mean?
What that statement really means is that everyone - no matter how different a particular person may be from you, or me - are absolutely to be treated equally. We are, in other words, "in this together," and our recognition of this fact, as a founding premise upon which this nation came into existence, is the "First Principle" that should guide our lives together.
Note that I said, "should." I used that word because this nation has failed to live up to its statement about equality, not only from the start, but from before the start. Black and White. They're not the same.
But they are - they should be - equal, under the First Principle outlined in The Declaration of Independence.
We can't live up to our legacy unless we properly understand the real meaning of equality, and start demonstrating that in every aspect of our personal and national life.
Our Fourth of July holiday, this year, has come and gone.
There is, though, an election on November 5th, as already mentioned - and there are years thereafter in which each one of us will have a chance to decide whether we care enough about what our Declaration of Independence proclaims that we will take the actions we need to take to transform that "First Principle" from a "declaration" - from a "promise" - into a living reality.
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It has also occurred to me that the phrase "endowed by their Creator" is in direct contradiction to the separation of Church and State; and might better be phrased "endowed by their existence", or more simply "endowed".
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